Second chances
by JayK89
Summary: AU where Haru moved away with his parents when he was 9 and he and Makoto never saw each other again... until they met at a photo shoot where Haru is a model, Rei the photographer, Nagisa the assistant and Makoto an unwilling observer who Nagisa dragged there to try and get his mind out of a recent break up ALSO UPLOADED TO AO3


"Come on Mako-chan! Don't be a meanie!" Nagisa was pulling him from the arm, urging him to stand from the bed. Not applying enough force to lift him, but enough insistence to annoy him. That was the blonde's plan all along, Nagisa could look small and cute but he could make a giant cry if he set his mind to it.

"But, I don't wanna" Makoto sighed, he knew he would end up going along anyway, what other choice did he have? But he really really didn't feel like it.

"Come on Mako-chan! You can't stay in this dirty room forever!"

"It's not dirty!" Makoto complained "It's just a little... untidy! He looked around and realized untidy was beyond politically correct "see, I have a good reason to stay! To clean and stuff"

"To clean and stuff" Nagisa mocked him "You won't clean shit Mako! I know it, you know it, the cockroaches living under your bed know it! Now get your ass out of bed and come with me to see hot half naked dudes!"

"Nagisa!" he sounded outraged but really, it was hard being outraged after 10 years of Nagisa's friendship. It was more a matter of habit.

"It's settled! Plus I really mis Rei-chan! And you've never seen him work!" Nagisa's eyes lighted up at the mention of his boyfriend, Makoto groaned, he had just been dumped he didn't need to be around a lovey dovey couple. On the other hand seeing his friend so happy was slightly contagious. He groaned again and stood up.

"Ok let me take a quick shower, I probably smell"

"You do, very badly!" Nagisa said with a sunny smile

"You're not supposed to say it!" Makoto complained, again, more out of habit than anything else.

"That's what friends are for! Now hurry hurry! Muscles and boobs are waiting!"

They walked the way to the studio; it was fairly close so it was faster than waiting for the train. Nagisa was excited and didn't want to be late. Why he wanted his friend to see the photo shoot so badly it escaped Makoto, probably the blond thought seeing attractive people in little clothing would help him forget about his resent break up, but Nagisa knew him better than that.

He wasn't at a point where he could find anyone attractive or romantically interesting, not yet. He was still hung up on his girlfriend _ex-girlfriend_ he corrected himself. The sunlight abusing his unaccustomed pupils and the noise of the street made him realize of just that. He wasn't ready to go back to the world yet. Everything about the outside made him feel like a foreigner, like someone who didn't get the joke. Everyday life seemed so dull and meaningless.

Makoto didn't like to be that way, he was usually a cheerful optimistic person, he wasn't one to make an enemy out of life, on the contrary he always found a reason to smile, he liked making other people happy and taking care of them. He guessed that was what made him such an easy target for unhealthy one sided relationships, he gave too much, at least that was what Nagisa always told him.

They arrived just in time, Rei was getting his equipment ready and Nagisa went to help him.

"Makoto, it's nice that you could make it" Rei bowed his head in greeting and readjusted his glasses. He was a strange guy - well you had to be if you were to date Nagisa- but he was also a great guy, a little too formal sometimes but always there when you needed him. The most important thing was that he cared about Nagisa a lot and knew how to make him happy, that was all Makoto needed to like the guy.

"Is there something I can do to help?" He asked Rei, but it was Nagisa who answered.

"You're here to watch Mako! Just look around or make yourself comfortable! and don't touch anything or Rei will freak out!" Rei blushed at that, Nagisa had the annoying habit of speaking for him, but it didn't seem to bother the blue hair that much for his scolding were always light hearted.

"Just make yourself comfortable as Nagisa said" Makoto nodded and glanced around. He felt really out of place, he would've rather they gave him something to do instead of just standing there with his hands on his pant's pockets.

The place was a large single room the size of a big apartment, there were two different sets both facing the large windows leaving them exposed to the good lighting. One was a simple white background one, Makoto wondered if they edited an image afterwards like they did in movies, though wasn't that a green screen? The other had a beach setting with sand an all. To the sides there were a few stations to get the models ready, make up and wardrobe, with a few improvised changing booths to give the models privacy.

He could see two women and one guy getting their makeup done; another one was already putting on some clothes. They were all surrounded by lots of people; Makoto thought it would feel intimidating having so much attention to oneself but that was probably why they chose the profession, to be pampered.

He was a little curious about the makeup process. It seemed pretty hectic but highly functioning, having up to three people working on a single person all at once. He decided not to get closer though, he didn't want to be in the way or be a rude guest. He wasn't sure if models were used to having an audience, they probably were, but it was his nature not to want to make people uncomfortable.

He didn't want to bother Rei and Nagisa either, even though Nagisa seemed to be doing just that, he at least was familiar with the equipment and seemed to be making himself a little useful by setting things around.

He decided to lean against a wall and wait for things to get started. He battled the urge to reach for his phone; it was a habit he'd picked up in the last couple of weeks, always waiting for a message that would never come. He did it at home all the time, but he figured the blond wouldn't approve of his obsessive compulsive behavior as he would likely call it. He sighed, he really wished he was back at his place, lying on his unmade bed and checking the phone without anyone to yell at him for it.

After a lot of preparation and some shouting, things looked like they were going to start. Makoto wondered if photo shoots always had people so on edge and in a hurry, it seemed like such a crazy tiring lifestyle but he kept the comment to himself.

He settled behind Rei and next to Nagi who was checking the computer where the pictures would show up as Rei snapped them. The two girls who were getting the makeup earlier and the guy who had been getting dressed were already taking their positions on the beach setting. Rei was directing them and telling them what he expected them to do and what he wanted to portray with the photos. It was no joke when Nagi said his boyfriend was obsessed with beauty, the guy was a true perfectionist, and highly professional, he stopped hating being there a little and started to see the fun of it. It was nice seeing someone so passionate at work.

It was a little monotonous though; the first session lasted for like half an hour. The three models tried different poses that looked too much alike to Makoto's eyes yet to Rei seemed to be the difference between a fifth grade's painting and the Mona Lisa. The two busty girls, one blond one brunette took turns at hugging the guy suggestively or laying on the sand grabbing a ball or something. They had nice bodies, the guy too, Makoto wouldn't deny, but as he had already guessed, he didn't feel any impure enjoyment from watching them; it was merely an acknowledgment of their achievement of today's beauty standards.

They took a "break" to move to the other set. The models went back to the make up and wardrobe stations and Rei and Nagi settled their equipment again. There were a few other people in the room, some seemed to be the managers of the models, a cute red hair girl and a blond middle age man chatted with each other on a corner.

Makoto didn't try to make conversation with any of them, he already felt too out of place to try and fail at fitting in that foreign world.

The second session took even longer; the models took individual turns at standing before the white background and posing with different clothes. It was made so that while one posed the others got changed and ready, it was efficient but it still took too long for Mako's liking.

After the second round of rotating models something caught his attention though, the second male model who hadn't appeared on the first session suddenly came into action, and Makoto's heart skipped a beat.

He was wearing a jovial blue sports jacket with white sleeves and a white t-shirt with a dolphin drawing underneath. On his lower body he wore red pinkish pants with a chain hanging from his pocket. The look, while probably targeted at teenager boys, suited him, really well. Suddenly that boy looked far more interesting than anyone or anything Makoto had seen since he had arrived.

It wasn't the clothes what caught his eyes though; the guy had a weird ageless aura to him. It was hard to say if he was a teen or a young looking man in his mid twenties. He had the soft yet strong features of a boy past eighteen but he had big round eyes that seemed to cast a "forever young" spell making it impossible to guess his age.

_His skin looks so soft_ Makoto thought as the man turned to him still looking at the camera and the light reflected on those perfect cheekbones. Makoto surprised himself staring with his mouth agape, it wasn't just the man's obvious beauty and perfect form, it was his blue inexpressive eyes that seemed to pierce right into the camera and yet at the same time they told him their owner was miles away. There was just something about the boy's every movement, so aloof so effortless, that surrounded him with that kind of simplistic yet enchanting beauty. So unlike the previous models exaggerated and obviously rehearsed poses designed to highlight their strong points, the dolphin boy -As Makoto decided to call him - looked so natural at all time. He looked so mundane yet at the same time so ethereal and unreachable that it sent a sharp stab to Makoto's chest.

Damn it Nagisa! What did he think bringing him to watch beautiful unattainable people? Was this his friend's way of torturing him? Taking him to ogle all the windows of the expensive shops he would never be able to afford shopping in.

As if he had invoked him with his thoughts, Nagisa elbowed him and whispered "Nice view right?" Makoto blushed and grimaced, his friend could be so tacky sometimes, Makoto often wondered just how Nagisa and he had ever managed not only to become friends, but to stay as such for so long.

When he returned his sight to the model though, he found with a violent jump on his stomach that those fierce blue eyes had been watching his little exchange with the blonde and were now intently hooked on his. His cheeks decided then it was their cue to perform a red neon sign impersonation, _great_… _just great_.

He wanted to look away like the coward he always was when it came to such situations but something stopped him. The adjectives "magnetic" and "gravitational pull" crossed the rambling rush of his mind while he still tried to process those two impossibly deep orbs and he realized he would always be the biggest sap. He also started freaking out, because it wasn't normal, it wasn't healthy for him to feel like such a _high school girl_ after a break up, it was a sign for trouble and he already had too much of that already.

He swallowed and realized his throat was too dry and hoped for the model to return his eyes to the camera already. Apparently he had some sort of mental power for the guy did just that, not without stealing a last glance of Makoto before and frowning a little while at it. _He knows_ Makoto thought, _he knows we were talking about him, he knows I was looking at him, he's frowning disapprovingly, he probably thinks I'm the biggest creep_. The thought while utterly crushing, helped to calm down his frantic heartbeat and the turn in his stomach now told him he was out of danger for the moment. As long as he remembered he was out of the guy's league and that he would most likely die alone he'd be fine, there was no room for fluttery feelings when you were depressed.

Luckily for him the dolphin boy's shoot ended shortly and it was the turn of the next model. Makoto stayed a while not to seem too obvious and then made his retreat to a door by the big windows; it apparently led to some fire escape staircase. There wasn't much room outside but it was enough of a hideout for the rest of the session. He had seen enough already and didn't care for more humiliation, his girlfriend_, ex girlfriend_ had already surpassed his monthly _yearly_ limit of that.

He slid down the wall and stretched his legs. He really wanted to go home.

The sun must have made him doze off a little for the next thing he knew Nagisa was shaking him and saying the shoot was almost over and he was missing it.

He reluctantly got up and decided to swallow back the grumpy words he had for his friend _Nagisa is only trying to cheer me up._ So headed back inside in defeat, the blonde already returning to his position on the computer.

As he approached the set he realized that luckily it was one of the girls being photographed, and the dolphin boy was nowhere to be see. Makoto let out a sigh of relief and told himself all he had to do was endure a little longer and he'd be free to return to the smelly protection of his cave.

He was so engrossed in fantasies of his habitat that he didn't notice the unfamiliarity of the voice that called his name, questioningly.

"Makoto?" He turned around humming completely unprepared for what he found. Once again blue orbs were boring holes into his head and this time, they were much much too close.

Makoto couldn't hold back a choking sound as he stumbled to say "Y-yes?"

"It really is you" the dolphin boy said with a slight almost not-there-at-all smile "I thought it was you but you've really changed and you seemed to recognize me but you're really tall now"

What?... WhatWhatWhatWhat was all Makoto could think, what was happening? The dolphin boy was talking to him? He knew his name? He knew _him_? Who was he? Just who… and then... suddenly.

"HARUKA?!" His eyes shot open as the other nodded almost imperceptivity. This wasn't happening, the guy he had been ogling right now; the dolphin boy couldn't be the same water obssesed boy from his childhood. Nope, he was probably still sleeping and this was a dream induced by the sun roasting his brain cells.

"I thought you had recognized me" the other said almost accusingly "I haven't changed as much... I think" He added.

"Well, yeah… I mean no! I just never expected to run into you, in a photo shoot of all places... it's really bizarre" Makoto laughed nervously and reached for the back of his head scratching his neck. At least he could make complete sentences now. The dolphin boy was Haru, he could speak to Haru… Right?

"Well I am a model" Haru stated unnecessarily and Makoto eyed him not knowing what to say… _well, yeah_ didn't seem a very polite answer "what do you do?"

"Oh, I'm studying to become a teacher, I'm just here because my friend is the photographer's boyfriend and assistant, though he doesn't really assist as much as he just drives people nuts" He laughed as Haru eyed Nagisa and smirked, he definitely was familiar with the blonde. "I never pictured you as a model type" Makoto added to make conversation, apparently his old friend was still as taciturn as always "Not that you're bad or anything" Makoto quickly said defensively "well... never pictured you doing anything really, only swimming" There, he was scratching his neck again, he probably looked like an idiot.

"I still swim, do you?"

"Not really, sometimes I swim with my brother and sister in the ocean when I go back home for the summer though" He hadn't thought about swimming for a really long time, it used to be such a big part of his life and now... just like Haruka, it was a mere memory.

"I see, it's a shame… you were good" Haru said it without any expression on his face but Makoto couldn't help his heart skipping a beat; his hands had started to sweat again.

"Thanks, though I was never half as good as you... I continued on the team though, that's where I met Nagisa actually"

"So you met him after I left" Makoto thought he could hear a slight tone of accusation, but it was probably his imagination. There was a time when he had known what those small things meant, every look every twitch of a muscle, it meant something in Haru language, and he used to be very fluent in it. It was actually almost like mind reading, it used to freak their classmates and entertain their parents.

He realized he never had that type of relationship with anyone ever again, it made him sad.

"Yeah, it was really good because I was really down when you left, I cried for weeks it was like getting dumped" Makoto said laughing but haru's expressionless look and silence made him doubt his sense of humor. Images of him running after Haru's train and shouting his name suddenly filled his mind and he felt very aware of a bead of sweat coming down his forehead. God, that was a horrible memory.

"A…anyway so you live in the city or.." he had started to change topic, wanting to dispense the heavy aura that had settled, but he wasn't sure of what you are supposed to talk with someone you were practically attached to for the first 9 years of your life and then never saw again. But someone called out to Haru instead; it was the red hair he had seen before.

"Haru we have to go!" The young woman waved her hand enthusiastically and turned to say her goodbyes after Haru nodded at her.

"I have another job, nice to see you" And with just a glance he left Makoto midsentence and turned around.

"Yeah... you too" he added but it came out in a whisper.

"Mako-chan Stop smoking!" Nagisa shouted with his hands placed on his hips, looking like a nagging mother "You really suck at it! You're supposed to take the smoke in! And you're grabbing it all wrong, you look pathetic!" he didn't sound like a mom though.

Makoto Had returned to his hideout after his utter failure at talking to Haruka for the first time in like a decade. He had imagined that moment so many times... whenever he saw a swimming pool or he visited the market and saw mackerel on the fish section. It was something playful like "what would happen if I ran into him, what kind of person would he be now?" he knew it was unlikely and yet... it HAD happened and he had screwed it up.

"I'm glad you worry about my health" Makoto said "It just... it makes me feel better"

"How? Does couching your lungs out remind you that you are an easily influenced person who takes the habits of their unsuitable partners?" Nagisa sighed. "Fine, I'll let it pass for now. So tell me where did you know Haruka from?" Nagisa's voice changed from annoyed to excited in a nanosecond.

"He was the friend who left before you joined the team, remember?" Makoto didn't really want to speak about it but he knew Nagisa wouldn't let it go.

"Wait, THAT Haru? From Iwatobi? The swimming genius Haru? The "I want to swim with you" Haru? Mako's sad puppy love story's Haru?" Makoto glared at him.

"...Yeah"

"That's great you finally got to see him again! Did you get his number? This is perfect!" Makoto glared at him some more.

"Would I be brooding if I had gotten his number? I suck at flirting you know I do! I made a fool of myself" Makoto took a drag and coughed a little, angry at the knowing smile his friend was giving him.

"Well that never stopped you before did it? Even when it was clear that you SHOULD have stopped for your own sake you still persisted, so why change modus operandi now?"

"Because it's never worked out?"

"Well maybe this time is the lucky one?"

"Whatever it's not like I'll randomly cross him in the street" Nor did he want to, it was just his luck to run into Haru when he was... like this. If it had been at some other moment in his life, he'd been able to speak normally, he'd been his old self but right now he was a mess.

"Well... he has another photo shoot with Rei next week" Nagisa winked at him "So I'll just have to make sure you correct your error!"


End file.
